The History of First Generation DMUs
The Railcar website provides information on the British Railways first generation DMUs (a.k.a. diesel multiple units / railcars) introduced in the 1950s.
The content of this website
The six key sections of the website are:
- Types - looks at each type of DMU in detail
- Topics - features articles on different aspects of the vehicles and personal recollections
- Technology - describes the technical details of how they work
- Data - various lists of numerical details
- Images - galleries featuring DMUs
- In Print - details the books and other printed materials made available over the years that have relevance
Details of railcars in preservation can be found on The Railcar Association website.
Date on DMUs
Vehicle / Set Data
To view details of a particular vehicle or set enter the number below:
DMU Images Wanted!
Do you have photos of First Generation DMUs? The more images we have the better we can tell the DMU story and make it more useful to visitors. Images can be loaded directly onto the site - just register as a user and upload! Alternatively if you have images on flickr or another website I can do the uploads for you - just let me know.
Scope
This website contains details about the First Generation DMUs. This includes the 4-wheel diesel railbuses, ACV / BUT railcars, the Battery Multiple Unit (BMU) and Blue Pullmans. It covers the period from their introduction to British Railways in the 1950s till their withdrawal and disposal from main-line use, but NOT preservation.
Because of the vast amount of data that this covers and the amount of information I have still to process I cannot include the DEMUs introduced on the Southern Region in the same era, nor Second Generation or later types.
Updates
April 27th
Self-Changing Gears has been added to the suppliers section, and the BUT Spare Parts catalogue for Self-Changing Gears added.
April 20th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: London - Welwyn Garden City; Newcastle - Darlington via Hartlepool; Glasgow - Barrhead; Lapworth - Wellington; and five new timetables added to Manchester - Buxton.
April 13th
Another log book kept by Llandudno Junction depot staff has been added covering 23 December 1988 to 24 February 1989. It is in two parts: 23 December - 24 January (10mb pdf); 25 January - 24 February (10mb pdf).
April 6th
Some pdfs of Western Region staff booklets have been added: two operating staff instructions, one for DMUs and one for the Diesel Pullmans; also for the Diesel Pullmans are instructions for the Auxiliary Power Units; and issues two and three of BUMF! (Better Understanding of Maintenance Facts, produced by Reading Depot) - can now be found on the Training Manual page.
March 30th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Cleethorpes - New Holland Pier; Shrewsbury - Wolverhampton; Edinburgh Inner Circle; and Plymouth - Gunnislake. Also four Working Timetables for May 1973 have been added to 1 - Darlington - Bishop Auckland; 2 - Darlington - Saltburn and Middlesburgh - Whitby; 3 - Newcastle - Hexham, Newcastle - Carlisle and the Alston Branch; 4 - Newcastle - South Shields and Newcastle - Sunderland.
March 23rd
Another log book kept by Llandudno Junction depot staff has been added covering 23 August to 22 December 1988. It is in four parts: 23 August - 22 September (11mb pdf); 23 September - 24 October (11mb pdf); 25 October - 24 November (11mb pdf); and 25 November - 22 December (11mb pdf).
March 16th
The remaining pages relating the asbestos content for vehicles circa 1984 have been added, these are for: Class 107s, Class 108s, Class 111s, Class 114s, Class 115s, Class 116s, Class 117s, Class 118s, Class 121s, Class 122s, and Class 127s.
March 9th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Ipswich - Lowestoft; Birmingham - Four Oaks; Leeds - Harrogate; Cumbernauld - Springburn; and Swansea - Carmarthen.
March 2nd
Another log book kept by Llandudno Junction depot staff has been added covering 13 May to 22 August 1988. It is in three parts: 13 May - 13 June (12mb pdf); 14 June - 16 July (11mb pdf); and 17 July - 22 August (12mb pdf). Also BR maintenance records for 50619 and 56492 courtesy of the Dean Forest DMU Group.
Latest Images:
Norwich Crown Point Set 102 E53193, E59084, E53180 with an East Suffolk Line service enters Ipswich 290581 Steve Knight.
54402 + 51208 seen north of Ely on Cambridge to Kings Lynn working. Note there isnt a set number on leading car. 22nd May 1988. Nicholas Youngman.
Set L225 (54220 + 51222) seen at Littleport. The unit was stabled on the Ely side of the gates in order to free the platform for the next up working from Lynn. These were special working arrangements during resignalling blockades at Ely. The driver would then have a cuppa in the Signal box while waiting the next duty back to Lynn often an hour and a half break. 26th October 1991. Nicholas Youngman.
Set 101319 (53269 + 59525 + 51245) heads out of Glasgow Central on 10th June 1989. Nicholas Youngman.
P873 (presumably 53248 + 53637) has just arrived at Newquay's rationalised terminus, with the 1025 from Par, on Thursday 30 June 1988. Mel Holley.
On This Day:
Class 124 DMC E51960 in Sheffield station forming part of the 19:20 to Hull on 28 April 1984. Stuart Mackay Collection.
53456 at Vic Berry's in Leicester on the 28th April 1988 Dennis Taylor.
A Derby built suburban DMU at Cwmffrwd Halt on 28th April 1962. This was taken 2 days before the Pontypool to Blaenavon Low Level line closed to passenger traffic. Photograph by John Wiltshire. Peter Brabham Collection.
A Durby suburban DMU at Abertillery station on April 28th 1962. Image by John Wiltshire, taken 2 days before the line closed to passenger traffic. The line closed totally in April 1969. he trackbed is clear up to south of the former station site which is now a TESCO. However the A467 road has been built on the formation from there northward. There... Peter Brabham Collection.
Class 118 DMU set B480 (51327 + 59497 + 51312) and 33009 at Westbury on 28 April 1988. Keith Miller.